Parliament gets ready for a stormy Monsoon Session from today

Sixteen new Bills will be introduced in each House. Opposition parties plan to confront the government on demonetisation and the raids on Opposition leaders, though they support it on the standoff with China.

The Monsoon session of Parliament, which will begin on Monday, is expected to be dominated by debates on cow vigilantism, farmers’ protests, the Goods and Service Tax and the unrest in Kashmir. However, proceedings will only start from Tuesday as both the Houses will be adjourned on Monday to mourn the deaths of MPs Vinod Khanna and P Goverdhan Reddy.

During an all-party meeting called to plan the agenda for the session on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that he hoped for “constructive discussions”. Sixteen new Bills are listed for introduction in each House during this session. This includes a Bill to implement the GST in Jammu and Kashmir, and one to amend the Citizenship Act to allow some illegal immigrants to get Indian citizenship.

At a separate meeting, 18 Opposition parties arrived at a “broad agreement” ahead of the session to confront the government on matters including the Goods and Services Tax, demonetisation and the raids on Opposition leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav. However, the parties will back the government on the standoff with China.